When you get engaged and start to plan a wedding, it’s easy to get swept up in the details of the big day. However, as fun as party planning is, it’s important to remember what the moment signifies. It’s a legal bond to move forward on all of life’s decisions with the person at your side. This isn’t daunting if you’ve laid everything out, including your plans of what your future family looks like.
Discussing family planning, fertility and financials should be as important as pre-marital counseling or prenup conversations!
Celmatix, a data-company helping women understand their genetic fertility, recently surveyed 500 women, ages 21-42, who are engaged or married for less than two years. What they discovered was most couples have discussed the financial implications of having a child, however, more than one-third of women wished they had spoken to their partner about finances relating to family planning and fertility treatments before they got engaged.
The study found most women talk to their partners about having children in the future, but nearly half never discussed the implications of fertility issues. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 10 percent of women (6.1 million) in the U.S. ages 15-44 have difficulty getting pregnant or staying pregnant, making this a common problem.
Nearly 60 percent of women who participated in the Celmatix study said they want children in the future or are trying to conceive, making the conversation about how to finance your family planning a necessity.
It’s clear that discussing family wants and needs is something that’s already happening, but what requires work is addressing the logistics required to fund those choices. Don’t delay this conversation for fear of varying views! Sooner or later your differences will emerge and it’s much better to enter the future having of semblance of what to expect and how you’ll plan for it together, rather than being surprised and forced to make a decision you might come to regret.
It might not be the most exciting conversation to have with your partner, but you have to admit, there is something romantic knowing you’re figuring it out together!
Style Me Pretty Contributor – Ximena N. Larkin is a writer and publicist. She lives in Chicago with her husband and dog.